HIRAM, Ohio –
Lauren Limbach and
Mackenzie Bruzzio each recorded seven kills Saturday, but the Kenyon College volleyball team could not keep pace with the Hiram College Terriers, who went on to a 25-20, 25-17, 25-15 victory at Price Gymnasium.
In addition to her seven kills, Bruzzio shared the team lead in digs with sophomore
Katie Howard. They both had 15. Freshman
Maya Sapsford had a team-best 11 assists, while classmate
Jac Cousineau dished out 10.
As a team, the Ladies had 25 kills and hit at a .137 rate. Hiram topped those numbers by posting 39 kills and a .198 hitting percentage. The Terriers also managed 13 service aces, compared to just one for the Ladies.
Kenyon kept things close in the early stages of the match. In fact, it raced out to leads of 5-2 and 7-4 in the first set. Hiram, however, whipped up a 5-0 run to take a 9-7 lead and later crafted a 7-0 run to open up a 19-13 advantage. Kenyon did not fade. The Ladies responded with a 4-0 run to close within two points, but Hiram used kills by Kiara Franks and Melina Lee to take the set.
Limbach had three of her seven kills in that first set. Bruzzio marked up two.
Kenyon again kept things close in the second set, but with a 12-10 lead the Terriers started to pull away. An ace, a couple of kills and a Kenyon error pushed the Terriers to a 16-11 lead. Kenyon could not string two points together the rest of the way. Meanwhile, Hiram leaned on Jaya Martin and Lee to finish off the set.
The Hiram momentum carried over to the third set, as the Terriers rattled off six straight to take an early 8-3 edge. Lee had two more kills in that run. When Kenyon answered with four straight to tie the set at 10-10, Hiram came right back with five straight points, including three consecutive kills from Kayla Cole. A few points later, Lindsey Walker put down three straight kills and Hiram pulled away with a closing 9-2 run.
Lee finished the match with 15 kills for the Terriers, while Walker tacked on nine.
The loss dropped Kenyon to 5-16 overall and 2-3 in conference play. With the win, Hiram improved to 13-11 and 1-4 in the NCAC.
